The term ‘retrofit kit’ refers to a combination of new components and/or parts and/or equipment and/or hardware, which is mechanically and/or electronically adapted to work with a conventional system or apparatus, for imparting it new features.
The term ‘managing’ (i.e., in connection with ‘management of interconnecting cabling systems’) encompasses operations such as obtaining, and/or monitoring the connectivity status, or map, of a cabling system, and using the obtained data for guiding a person through desirable cabling changes and for indicating to said person erroneous connections, if any.
The term ‘Patch Panels’ refers to panels that include data ports, to which multiconductor cables (hereinafter referred to as ‘Patch Cords’) may be connected, and which are associated with interconnecting cabling systems.
The term ‘Connectivity’ is used in connection with one or more patch cords that are connected to corresponding sockets in patch panels, so as to allow transmission of data and/or voice between pairs of sockets. The data/voice could be represented by corresponding analog or digital signals. Accordingly, ‘Connectivity Status’, or ‘Connectivity Map’, is a type of data that indicates the end of which patch cord (i.e., terminated by a corresponding plug) is connected to which socket in which patch panel. The data, or voice, associated with the connectivity status/map is normally contained within a storage array, for example, in a database.
The term ‘Scanning System’ refers to a system designed for transmitting signals (hereinafter referred to as ‘Scanning Signals’—SSIGs) via the first end of patch cords that are connected to sockets in patch panels, receiving the SSIGs at the corresponding second end, and associating each first end with its corresponding second end. In other words, the scanning system forwards SSIGs to a first set of ends of patch cords, and receives the forwarded SSIGs via a corresponding second set of ends of patch cords, for associating each end from the first set to a corresponding end of the second set. The scanning system may contain a database, the content of which is a data representing the connectivity status or connectivity map of the respective (i.e., scanned) cabling system, updated according to the transmission of the SSIGs. A scanning system is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,467 (“Patching panel scanner”).
The term ‘socket suitable for transmission of scanning signals’ refers to a socket (i.e., data/voice port) that includes, in addition to data/voice contacts, an integral electrical scanning contact(s), being normally physically aligned with the data/voice contacts, and via which, scanning signals could be transmitted by a scanning system. The functionality of the latter type of socket is equivalent to the functionality of a combination that comprises a socket that is not suitable for transmission of scanning signals, and an electrical scanning contact that is located outside the respective socket and utilized by a scanning system to forward scanning signals. A scanning contact, which is included in a plug and is intended to mate with an integral electrical scanning contact, is hereinafter referred to as ‘internal scanning contact’. A scanning contact that is part of a plug and is intended to mate with an electrical scanning contact that is located outside the respective socket, is hereinafter referred to as ‘external scanning contact’.
Currently, there is a large number of interconnecting cabling systems being used, which are usually based on cross-connecting/interconnecting patch panels that utilize sockets as data ports, and corresponding patch cords. The latter sockets, and associated cords' plugs, may be conventional or non-conventional, and each socket may include any number of electrical contacts. In order to facilitate the description associated with patch panel connections, the respective description refers to exemplary sockets and patch cords, each of which has 8-contacts and 8-wires, respectively, which are utilized for data transfer. An example for such patch panel and patch cord is shown in FIG. 1, in the specification. In FIG. 1(a), patch panel 37 includes 8-contact sockets 37/1 to 37/24. FIG. 1(b) depicts plug 3, which has eight contacts (6) and is mounted at a first end of patch cord 31. Cabling systems that include patch panels, such as patch panel 37, are problematic in terms of tracking their connectivity status, since they do not provide means, such as (scanning) wires and electrical contacts, for allowing a Scanning System to forward SSIGs via the connected patch cords, and, thereby, to obtain data associated with their connectivity status.
Consequently, the problematic patch panels cannot be monitored nor managed, which causes several forthcoming drawbacks whenever large interconnecting cabling systems are involved, due to the relatively high degree of randomness characterizing the physical arrangement of the connected patch cords. A first drawback is associated with the fact that the recordation, reflecting the patch cords connectivity status, must be manually updated. Such updating is very cumbersome and may result in erroneous connectivity recordation. A second drawback involves manual changing of cables' connectivity. In such cases, a person might accidentally disconnect a wrong patch cord, in which case an unintended data network would be disconnected, since normally, when there are many patch cords aggregated in relatively small area, it is difficult to associate the first end of a patch cord with its second end.
A partial solution to the above mentioned problem is described in WO 00/60475, which discloses an adapter jacket having an external contact, which is placed over a standardized cable (FIG. 1B, in the reference, reference numerals 7, 8 and 3, respectively) which connects data ports, and an adapter board having a plurality of socket contacts (FIG. 2, in the reference, reference numerals 14, 15, respectively). However, the system disclosed in WO 00/60475 suffers from a major drawback in that is associated with the external conductor wire (FIG. 1B, reference numeral 9, in the reference) that must be externally added to each one of the connecting cables. The external conductor wire could be freely moved by a person, intentionally or unintentionally, regardless of the physical orientation of the connected patch cord to which it is added. Such movements might cause to disconnection of the external conductor. Furthermore, in a system having already a relatively large number of interconnecting cables, adding additional conductors could make the cabling system even more difficult to handle and manage. The latter problem could be partially solved by securing the external conductors to their corresponding patch cord. However, such an arrangement is provisory-like solution and implementing it requires human work that could be time-consuming. A second drawback is associated with the external contact attached to the adapter boot (FIG. 1B, reference numerals 8 and 7, respectively, in the reference) i.e., special care must be given to the placing of adapter boot 7, as it must be tightly attached to the corresponding counter socket contact in order to maintain the electrical continuity of the scanning path.
In addition, the disclosed system is incapable of interacting with a technician whenever there is a desire to add new patch cords or to change the location of existing patch cords means. For example, it would be advantageous to have a system that, whenever required, will guide a technician (e.g., by activating a corresponding flashing Light Emitting Diode—LED) as for the next data port(s), or data socket, to which a patch cord end(s) should be connected. It would be also advantageous to have a system that, whenever required, will detect errors that are made in connecting patch cord ends to data ports, and indicate to the technician the erroneous connections.
The system described above has not provided a simple and reliable way for managing cabling systems, which offers also a way for interactive operation with a corresponding cabling system's manager.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for obtaining the connectivity status, or map, of data ports included in patch panels, which utilize sockets and associated connecting patch cords, by utilizing scanning conductors that are included in the connecting patch cords.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a kit for allowing easy identification of a data port to which an end of a corresponding connecting cable should be connected.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a kit for allowing easy identification of a data port from which an end of a corresponding connecting cable should be removed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide means for guiding a technician through ‘error-free’ interconnection changes, which may include replacements, addition, or removal, of new or existing connecting patch cords, respectively.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a kit for allowing to obtain indications associated with erroneous connections.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an adapter plug for allowing to initiate an existing database or generate a new database, the database being associated with a corresponding connectivity data that is used for replacing patch cords by patch cords (i.e., upgraded patch cords) suitable for managing cable connectivity.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a patch cord for allowing interconnecting between socket(s) suitable for transmission of scanning signals and sockets of upgraded patch panels.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a patch cord that includes plugs for allowing interconnecting between socket(s) suitable for transmission of scanning signals.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.